Boiled Beef Brisket with Vegetable Soup

A recipe from Chef Richard Bickford at Tujague's. Read more about Chef Bickford here.

Chef’s note: The two most important steps to produce a tender, juicy brisket are: 1. Buy a quality, well-trimmed brisket, never frozen; 2. Simmer the meat (not a hard boil).

Yield: 1 gallon

Ingredients

• 6–7 lbs. choice brisket
• 2 onions, quartered
• 1 head of garlic, peeled
• 1 + 1/2 ribs of celery, quartered
• 2 green onions, quartered
• 1 carrot, quartered
• 1 bell pepper, quartered
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 15 black peppercorns

For sauce:

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup horseradish
• 1/4 cup Creole mustard

For vegetable soup:

• beef stock (reserved from boiling brisket)
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 whole tomatoes, sliced
• additional vegetables of your choice

Method

To make brisket: Place the brisket in a large soup pot, cover with cold water, add all the ingredients, and simmer for 3–4 hours until beef is tender. Remove beef and slice.

To make sauce: Combine sauce ingredients.

To make vegetable soup: In the soup pot, skim and strain the stock left over from boiling the beef brisket. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, and additional vegetables. Cook until tender and serve.